Draft preventing door seal attachment for doors



May 25, 1954 7 Q E, M 2,679,076

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Patented May 25, 1954 TENT OFFICE DRAFT PREVENTING DOOR SEAL ATTACHMENT FOR DOORS Charles E. Ketcham, South Gate, Calif.

Application July 21, 1952, Serial No. 299,951

2 Claims.

This invention comprises novel and useful improvements in a draft preventing door seal attachment for doors and relates to an improvement over the draft preventing attachment forming the subject matter of my prior co-pending application Serial No. 112,356, filed August 25, 1949, now Patent No. 2,625,718, issued January 20, 1953, for Draft Preventing Attachment for Doors.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an attachment for automatically eliminating drafts through the spaces customarily provided between the lower edges of doors and the threshold or the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide a draft preventing attachment for the lower edges of doors which will automatically assume a lifted, non-sealing position while the door is open and will be automatically urged to a door sealing position when the door is closed.

A still further important object of the invention is to provide an attachment in conformative with th foregoing objects which shall be capable of a single standard size construction and which may be readily applied to difierent sizes and dimensions of doors.

A still further important object of the invention is to provide a draft preventing door seal in conformative with the above mentioned objects in which the entire attachment shall lie within the side edges of a conventional door.

These, together with various ancillary features and objects of the invention, which will later become apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by the present invention, the preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated, by way of example only, in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the lower portion of a door and door frame showing the attachment forming the present invention applied thereto, a door being indicated in its closed position, and a portion of one door jamb being broken away with certain concealed parts being indicated in dotted lines therein;

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse sectional detail view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 2-2 of Figure 1, upon an enlarged scale and showing the manner in which the sealcooperates with the threshold of a door for sealing the spacetherebetween;

Figure 3 is avertical transverse sectional detail view taken upon anenlarged scale substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 3-3 of Figure 1 and illustrating the manner in which the hinge means is associated with the blade holder of the attachment;

view taken upon an enlarged scale substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 4-4 of Figure 5 and showing the manner in which the striker arm of the blade holder cooperates with the striker plate in the closed position of the door in its door jamb;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional detail View taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 5-5 of Figure 1 and upon an enlarged scale, and illustrating the manner in which the striker arm of the blade holder and the striker plate of the door jamb cooperate in a closed position of the door;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of the lower portion of a door showing the end portion of the sealing attachment applied thereto and in the normally elevated position of the blade when the door is open; I

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6 but with a cap plate removed and with the blade and blade holder in their raised position to show the hinge means of the device;

Figure 8 is an elevational view of a blank suitable for forcing a blade holder;

Figure 9 is an elevational view of the blade holder formed from the blank of Figure 8; and

Figure 10 is a perspectiv view of a bracket constituting a striker. Referring now more specifically to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, it will be seen that the numeral iii designates a portion of a door, to the lower portion of which the sealing attachment forming the subject of this invention is adapted to be applied.

The door construction to which this invention is applied likewise includes a pair of door jambs i2 and Hi, to the former of which one edge of the door is hingedly connected in the usual manner, and the latter of which is engaged by the door in its closed position. The door construction further includes a conventional threshold IS, the lower edge of the door having the customary space provided above the threshold as shown in Figures 2-4 in order to provide the necessary clearance for the door. It is this space between the lower edge of the door and the threshold which is adapted to be automatically sealed by the sealing attachment of the present invention whenever the door is in its closed position.

The door sealing attachment includes a generally rectangular substantially flexible sheet or Figure 4 is a vertical transverse sectional'detail blade of rubber or the like and indicated by the umeral I8, this blade being carried by the blade holder 20 of a construction to be set forth hereinafter, which is hingedly connected to the lower portion of the door for pivoting movement about a horizontal axis. Mounted on the door as by fasteners 22 is an overhanging cap plate 24 which serves to cover the hinges of the device, to protect the same, and to limit upward swinging movement of the blade and holder as set forth hereinafter. In some instances, it may be preferred to omit the cap plate 24.

Referring now more specifically to Figures 8 and 9 it will be seen that the blade holder is formed of a generally rectangular sheet 26 of any suitable material such as sheet metal or the like, this sheet being folded upon its longitudinal medial axis indicated by the line 2%, to thus provide parallel front and rear panels 30 and 32 respectively, which are coextensive and which frictionally and compressively clamp the upper horizontal edge of the blade 18 therebetween as shown in Figures 2 and 3.

At longitudinally spaced positions along the medial axis, the sheet 23 is provided with openings or notches extending on opposite sides of the medial axis, these notches being shown at 34, while one of the end notch-es is indicated at 35. A recess 38 is left in the side 32 of the holder to receive the hinge plates t l which are separately formed. These plates are removably secured as by screws it to the surface of the door to thus hingedly support the blade holder for pivoting movement about a horizontal axis. At one end, the sheet forming the blade holder is provided with an end tab 33 which is formed by cutting transversely of the sheet from one side along the line 5!! and then bending this tab back along the longitudinally extending line 5 2. As shown more clearly in Figures 6 and '7, this tab :18 is bent upon itself to provide a striker arm 5 having a curved extremity 56 constituting the striker tip.

The attachment is so mounted upon the door that the outer edge of the striker arm extends closely adjacent to if not substantially coextensive with the adjacent edge of the door, while the other end of the blade and blade holder, which members are constructed in a standard size, together with the cap member 24, will all be cut off at an appropriate length to cause the same to lie within the two side edges of the door.

There is further provided a striker plate indicated generally by the numeral 58 which is in the form of an angle iron bracket having perpendicularly disposed plate surfaces or panels 5E and 62. One of these such as the latter is provided with a screw aperture {is whereby the plate may be disposed against the door iamb M by means of a fastening screw 85, as shown in Figures 4 and 5. The other panel Ed constitutes the striker surface which is adapted to be engaged by the extremity 58 of the striker arm just 'lprior to the engagement of the door jamb by the ,adjacent edge of the door as the latter is pushed into its closed position.

A suitable spring means indicated generally by the numeral 68 of Figure '7 may be disposed about one of the hinge pins to yieldingly urge the blade and blade holder into their elevated position as shown in Figure 6. This spring means may be of any desired construction, as for example, the construction set forth in my above-mentioncd prior co-pending application.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device Will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A door seal comprising a blade of flexible material, a blade holder secured to said blade, a hinge pin pivotally securing said holder to the vertical surface of a door adjacent the lower end thereof, said blade being positioned for engagement with the floor and for closing the space between the door and floor, resilient means interposed between said holder and said door and surrounding said hinge pin and urging said blade holder and blade into a raised position, a shield secured to said door above said holder to protect the hinge pin and resilient means from the elements, said shield including a downturned lip overlying said holder and limiting the raising movement of said holder, an integral arm on said holder for engagement with the door frame to urge said holder and blade into their lowered position when said door is closed, said holder comprising an elongated sheet of metal folded on its medial longitudinal axis to form curved hinge portions, said sheet having longitudinally spaced openings on said medial axis forming notches when said sheet is folded, the folded portions of said sheet embracing said blade, brackets supporting said pin from said door, said notches receiving said brackets, said sheet adjacent one end thereof being folded offset from the longitudinal axis thereof to form said integral arm, said arm extending beyond one of said hinge portions.

2. A door seal comprising a blade of flexible material, a blade holder secured to said blade, a hinge pin pivotally securing said holder to the vertical surface of a door adjacent the lower end thereof, said blade being positioned for engagement with the floor and for closing the space between the door and floor, resilient means interposed between said holder and said door and surrounding said hinge pin and urging said blade holder and blade into a raised position, an integral arm on said holder for engagement with the door frame to urge said holder and blade into their lowered position when said door is closed, said holder comprising an elongated sheet of metal folded on its medial longitudinal axis to form curved hinge portions, said sheet having longitudinally spaced openings on said medial axis forming notches when said sheet is folded, the folded portions of said sheet embracing said blade, brackets supporting said pin from said door, said notches receiving said brackets, said sheet adjacent one end thereof being folded onset from the longitudinal axis thereof to form said integral arm, said arm extending beyond one of said hinge portions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS France Dec. 14, 1915 

